The Real Reason People Are Pissed Off About Starbucks Cups

source: Starbucks

I have been following the absurdity that is the "War on Christmas" with a mixture of amusement, bewilderment, and lots of head shaking.

I have shared post after post on social media consisting of funny and sarcastic articles and memes intended to lend perspective.

Because the design of Starbucks' red cups is not something I get my panties in a bunch over.

Not in the slightest. I wouldn't care if Starbucks used their plain white cups all year long. They're not obligated to help me with my holiday cheer (or validate my beliefs) by changing up their cups every year. I just like their coffee.

Many of the opinions flying around on this subject (mine included) point out that someone who gets so crazy about such things must not have much else to worry about, that their lives must be so perfect that a coffee cup design is their biggest concern.

They lack perspective, right? They are focusing on a stupid red disposable coffee cup because they fail to see the bigger problems of the world. Like poverty, disease, hunger, war, discrimination, corruption, global warming, equal rights, and animal cruelty.

They only have "First World Problems".

At first glance, that's what it looks like. That's what I think. I'm sitting here thinking, Oh you have it so good. How 'bout you try walking in my shoes with my sick husband for awhile?

But then I saw something else. I realized that outrage over the Starbucks holiday cup is easier.

It's so much easier to be pissed off about a coffee cup some big company puts out than all the huge, complicated problems of the world at large. It feels manageable. It's not life or death, make or break.

So many things in life make us feel helpless and vulnerable. And sometimes, I think, one little change, like a minimalist red Starbucks cup when you were expecting the usually decorated one, can send a person over the edge.

I know. It still sounds ridiculous. But honestly, I think this just might be what's really at the heart of the matter.

Don't mess with my Starbucks! I have so many big problems that if my delicious, comforting peppermint mocha isn't in it's usual cheery red cup I just might lose my mind!

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